Cardboard sheets (e.g. corrugated cardboard sheets), widely used in constructing inexpensive, light-weight containers, have also been used for constructing various articles of furniture, particularly for children, and have also been supplied in kit form for this purpose. Examples of such cardboard kits are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,067,615, 4,934,756 and 6,083,580. However, such kits for making three-dimensional articles, particularly articles of children furniture, have not found widespread use because of the difficulty in producing kits that can be supplied in a compact flat condition for shipping, handling or storage, to be assembled into a three-dimensional article having dimensional stability and structural rigidity, and yet provide a pleasing appearance.
It is an object of the present invention to provide three-dimensional articles produced from sheet material such as cardboard having important advantages particularly with respect to foldability into a compact flat form for storage, shipping or handling as well as dimensional stability and structural rigidity when assembled in the three-dimensional article, and also to provide a pleasing appearance in the assembled article.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a kit for use in producing three-dimensional articles from flat sheet material.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.